Mark 12:28

Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?  At least one of the scribes was willing to listen to Jesus and acknowledge that He had answered well the question that the other Sadducees were attempting to discredit Jesus with.  When we read what Jesus said in the Bible, or anything said by the Heavenly Father before Jesus came, we must acknowledge that what was said is the truth.  Verse twenty-nine adds, And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: This scribe then asked Jesus which was the first commandment of all.  I am not sure what his purpose was in asking the question, but it is a good question for anyone to ask when they are questioning what God expects of them when they encounter Jesus, especially if they have accepted Him as their personal Savior and Lord.  Verse thirty continues, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment, Jesus told the scribe that the first commandment was that they should hear God and acknowledge that the LORD our God is One God.   I believe this would also be an acknowledgement that Jesus is God.  Then, we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, or with all that we are in in other words.  It is not enough to just acknowledge God’s existence, or even His power.  We must give Him all that we are.  Verse thirty-one concludes, And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  Though not asked, Jesus said the second commandment was that we should love our neighbors as ourself.  Jesus said there were no other commandments greater than these.  We may take pride in not stealing, killing, or breaking any of the other commandments, but unless we put our heart and soul into loving God more than we love ourself, and loving our neighbor the same way, then we have failed in our faith.  Jesus did not say if our neighbor was loveable or like us that we were to love him or her as we love God, but that we were to love them more than we love ourself, no matter who they are.  I believe that if we truly love God that we have to love our neighbor as well.  Verse thirty-two states, And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:  Verse thirty-three adds, And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The scribe said that Jesus had answered with the truth and basically repeated the two commandments, saying they were worth more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.  We can give our tithes and offerings, be in church every time the doors open, and do all kind of good works, but if we then go out into the world hating our neighbor, then all of these things really don't accomplish much in God's kingdom.  Verse thirty-four continues, And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Jesus saw that the scribe did this discretely and told him he was not far from the kingdom of God.  I believe the reason for this was because even though the scribe knew the answers, he had not made a commitment to put his faith in Jesus openly.   Knowing the answers to questions about God is not enough.  We must acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord to the world in order to become a part of the kingdom of God. 

Mark 12:18

 Mark 12:18 says, Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,  The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead came to Jesus asking Him a question in an attempt to discredit Him.   Verse nineteen adds, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.  They started by referencing the Scriptures which contain the Law of God given to Moses.  There are still many people who attempt to get us to question God's law today.  Some say that the Bible really isn't God's word or that it has errors in it.  Even though we may not always fully understand it, we as Christians should never allow anything or anyone to cause us to question the Bible.  They referred to Moses teaching that if a man married and died without an heir that his brother was to marry his widow to give him an heir.  Verse twenty states, Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.  Verse twenty-one adds, And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.  Verse twenty-two continues, And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. They carried it to the extreme as one after the other of seven brothers married the woman, died without her giving birth to an heir, and then she died. They really didn't care about the unlikelihood of this ever happening but thought it would make it impossible for Jesus to answer their question and still profess the resurrection of the dead. People are still attempting to discredit the Bible today based on half-truths and distortions of what the Bible says because they do not believe or understand what it really says.  Verse twenty-three concludes, In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.  They asked Jesus which of the seven brothers would the woman be the wife of in the resurrection, which they didn't believe in to start with.  Verse twenty-four says, And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?  Jesus asked them if they did not err because they didn't know the Scriptures or the power of God.  Just because someone can quote or reference the Bible doesn't mean that they understand it, and until they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they cannot truly understand the Bible nor know the power of God.  Verse twenty-five adds, For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.  Jesus said that in heaven none would be given in marriage but would be like the angels. Verse twenty-six continues, And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  Verse twenty-seven concludes, He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.  Jesus then asked that as to the touching of the dead, had the Sadducees not read in the book of Moses, which would be the first five books of the Bible, how God said, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Moses.  Then Jesus said that since God was the God of the living and not the dead, that the Sadducees greatly erred.  God could not be the God of all three at the same time if there was no resurrection from the dead.  Of course, the resurrection that counts above all others is the resurrection of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to all who put their faith in Him as their personal Savior and Lord.

Mark 12:13

Mark 12:13 says, And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. The Pharisees were always attempting to find fault with Jesus so they could discredit His teachings at the least or kill Him at the best.  This time they came with some Herodians, who were Jews who supported Herod.  In their attempt to discredit Jesus Christ today, people will often ally themselves with others that they may not even associate with otherwise.  Verse fourteen adds, And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? They began by what they thought was flattering Jesus with false praise, but in actuality they spoke the truth. Jesus did speak the truth without any regard to who the person was that He was speaking to.   He did not treat the rich and powerful any differently than He did the poor and powerless, and neither should we today.  If we are gathered together to worship God, and someone famous in the eyes of the world comes to the worship service, do we treat them differently than we do the poorest unknown who comes to worship with us?  This should never be the case.  They then said without really believing it something else that was true, and that was that Jesus taught the way of God in truth, and so should we as Christians.  They then asked if it was lawful for Jewish people to pay tribute or taxes, to Caesar.  They really didn't care what He answered, because they figured either way, they could discredit Him either with the Jews or with Caesar.  People today will often do everything that they can to discredit Christians with one group or another, and they really don't care which.  Verse fifteen states, Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.  Jesus knew their hypocrisy, just as He will know it today.  Verse sixteen adds, And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.  He asked for a coin and asked whose image and inscription were on it, and they said Caesars.  This was the only answer they could give.  There was no room for debate about it.  If we answer with God's truth, there really can be no debate about it.  There may be arguments, but there can be no debate.  This is why it is so important to know what God's word really says.  Verse seventeen continues, And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. Jesus then told them to render unto Caesar the things that are Ceasar's and to God the things that are God's.  Although everything really belongs to God, we are still to pay our taxes today.  They could only marvel at Jesus, and we should still today. 

Mark 12:1

Mark 12:1 says, And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.  Jesus had spoken in parables before, but they were parables about the Old Testament church, the people of Israel, and now He begins to speak about the New Testament church, which is based not on keeping God's commandments, which we all fail to do completely, but on Jesus Christ dying for our sins.  The people of Israel were to be God's vineyard, or church, and were to bear fruit for His kingdom and glory.  We as Christians today are to be God's church, bearing fruit for His honor and glory by living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse two adds, And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.  Just as the owner of the vineyard sent his servant to the husbandman to receive his fruit, God sent His servants, the prophets, to have the people of Israel give an accounting for their bearing fruit for Him.  He did this after they had time to bear fruit for Him and not before they could.  It was done in due season.  God does not demand that we immediately bear fruit as new Christians, but He does expect us to in due season.  Verse three continues, And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. Verse four concludes, And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.  Verse five states, And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.  Not only did the people of Israel not bear fruit for the glory of God, but they abused the prophets that He sent to them, even killing some of them, and sent the ones they didn't kill away empty handed. They had come to believe that God's blessings on them were for their own benefit and not for the glory of God.  As the church today, we cannot afford to become materialistic, thinking that what God blesses us with is to be used to glorify ourselves instead of glorifying God.  Verse six adds, Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.  The Husbandman finally decided to send His Son to them, thinking that they would honor Him, but instead they killed Him and cast His body out of the vineyard.  God is the husbandman in this parable, and Jesus Christ is the Son.  Verse seven continues, But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.  Verse eight concludes, And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.  After rejecting the prophets, and even killing some of them, the people of Israel not only rejected God's only begotten Son, but they killed Him and cast Him out of the kingdom.  We may believe that this was terrible, but anytime anyone refuses to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, they are effectively killing Him and casting Him out of their life.  Verse nine asks, What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.  Then, the question was what would the Husbandman do, and the answer was that He would come and destroy them and give the vineyard to others.  This is the New Testament church, built on faith in Jesus Christ, that was given to the Gentiles.  Verse ten adds And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:  Jesus then asked wasn't the cornerstone that the church would be built on, which was faith in Jesus Christ Himself, marvelous.  We need to be able to answer yes to this question today, but the people of Israel then sought to take hold of Jesus and kill Him. These are still our two choices today.  We can either reject Jesus or accept Him as our personal Savior.  Verse eleven continues, This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?  Jesus said this was the Lords doing, and asked if it were not marvelous in their sight.  Salvation should be marvelous in our eyes today.  Verse twelve concludes, And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.  The religious leaders once again sought to arrest Jesus because they knew He was talking about them, but they feared the people who followed Him, so left Him and went their way. I don’t believe that the world fears Christians much anymore,